ExxonMobil not yet ready to resume Aceh operations

ExxonMobil not yet ready to resume Aceh operations

JAKARTA (Antara): ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia will need at least
one month to resume its operations in Aceh in order to conduct
technical tests in the field, Minister of Energy and Mineral
Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said here on Tuesday.

"To resume its operations, ExxonMobil would require a month
(of preparation)," Purnomo said.

The American company had suspended its operations in Aceh
since March 9 due to mounting threats made by the separatist Free
Aceh Movement.

The move caused Indonesia financial losses estimated at some
US$100 million a month for its failure to meet natural gas
exports to Japan and South Korea.

Purnomo said the company will have to conduct field tests
before restarting operations to ensure that all pipes are ready
for operation.

The government, he said, had sent a team to help the company
make preparations.

He, however, did not provide details on the preparations to be
made.

On the scarcity of diesel fuel along the northern coast of
West Java, Purnomo said state oil company Pertamina had been
planning to assign additional supplies to meet the legitimate
demands of fishermen in the area.

"Yesterday, I visited Surabaya (East Java) and Central Java.
There is no scarcity of diesel fuel except along the northern
coast. Pertamina had agreed to launch a market operation there,"
the minister added.

The highest demand for diesel fuel occurs in Jakarta,
amounting to 5 million kiloliters a year, 40 percent of which is
consumed by industrial users.

Many cities in the country have suffered a shortage of diesel
oil following the government's recent decision to set a different
price for industries.

Under the new price regulation, industries have to buy the
diesel fuel at Rp 970 per liter, as compared to Rp 550 at a gas
station. Many industries however bought the diesel oil from gas
stations through "intermediaries" to take the advantage of the
scheme.